2012 Girls Cross Country Team

In 2012, the Avon Girls Cross Country program put forth one of the most successful team campaigns ever seen at Avon High School. The team, comprised of Rachael Rosow, Sara Stokesbury, Molly Hamel, Ryley Higgins, Maddi McHugh, Katy McIntyre and Hannah Fusaro, won the NCCC conference regular season title that season with an undefeated 26-0 record before continuing on to win the Class MM State Championship and a second place finish at the State Open. They were also the first AHS team to qualify for the New England Championships, where they finished 14th.

During the course of their season, they won numerous competitions including the Windham, The Run To The Sun, The Bellringer and The Nonnewaug Invitational. They placed second at the Wickham Park Invitational before setting their sites on the State Title race. There, they became the first team in nearly two decades to win a State Championship by beating Guilford 64-109 and in the process, breaking Guilford's streak of eight consecutive MM State championships.

Rachael Rosow and Sara Stokesbury both earned All-State honors, placing second and fourth at the State Championship. With all seven Avon runners placing in the top fifty, Avon demonstrated a level of dominance no other team could compete with during that season.

At the State Open, the team placed second overall, losing on points to a LL program from Ridgefield. At the Open, Rachael Rosow placed fourth and Sara Stokesbury placed thirteenth overall, leading another strong showing for the team as they outpaced every other school across the state that day, most being much larger schools.

The team has been recognized by the Hartford Courant and by MySportsResults as a ‘Top Team of the Decade’ and remains acknowledged on their website as one of the top 6 teams from 2010-2020. Their performance that day at Wickham Park remains among the top 40 best times ever recorded across hundreds of competitions held there since 1987.

After graduating from AHS, many of the runners continued their commitments to the sport, a testament to the passion and comradery they found while running together. Rachael Rosow ran at Bates College, Sara Stokesbury at Tufts, Molly Hamel at TCU, Maddi McHugh at Ole Miss and Ryley Higgins at Syracuse.